1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a device and method of use of a device for preventing passage of a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device and method of use of a device for preventing the entry and/or exit of a vehicle to and from an unauthorized area. More particularly the present invention relates to a barrier and to a method of using the barrier for preventing unauthorized use of a vehicle parking space and/or unauthorized removal of a vehicle from a parking space.
2. Related Art
Although the present invention will be described with particular reference to a security device and to methods of use of the device for preventing unauthorized use of a car parking space and/or unauthorized removal of a car from a parking space, it is to be noted that the scope of the present invention is not so limited but rather the scope of the present invention is broader so as to include other types of barrier devices and uses of the devices other than specifically described in the present specification.
Further, it is to be noted that the scope of the present invention is not limited to barrier devices for cars but includes other wheeled vehicles such as bicycles, motorcycles or the like and larger vehicles such as tractors, lorries, trucks and buses. Furthermore the scope of the present invention is not limited to preventing unauthorized use of a car parking space and/or unauthorized removal of a car from a parking space but includes prevention of unauthorized entrance to or exit from or movement along a driveway or entrance such as the driveway or entrance of a car park, parking station, parking building and the like.
The rapid increase in vehicle usage around the world has concomitantly increased parking pressure in most cities. The increasing housing density in many areas has further exacerbated parking problems. At certain times of day, on street parking is at a premium and there is pressure on the availability of existing parking spaces in public and private car parks and parking buildings. Parking can he particularly problematic for those who need to come and go from a place of business in a city throughout the day because each time they return to their place of business they often have to spend a considerable amount of time searching for a parking place.
Accordingly companies often rent or buy parking places to reserve for their staff. Usually these reserved parking places are located in car parks or parking buildings, in which the balance of the parking places are available to the public. Some businesses such as restaurants also reserve parking places for their customers and the continued prosperity of the restaurant may depend on customers having access to the reserved parking places.
Reservation of parking spaces is an attractive proposition for commercial car park and parking building owners because they can demand high prices for sole or exclusive use of such spaces. Consequently the owners will try to obtain as many reserved bookings as possible. Difficulties arise as the proportion of reserved parking places in the car park or parking building increases, concomitantly reducing the parking places available to the public. This frequently leads to members of the public using reserved parking places either through ignorance or indifference.
Furthermore many members of the public will park in any space available irrespective of whether they are parking illegally and/or on private property or in a public area. Often scant attention is paid to signs warning against parking in a particular area or indicating that a parking place is reserved for a particular person or vehicle. Often drivers resort to a variety of means to gain unauthorized entry to parking lots, parking buildings or public areas in an effort to find a parking place and/or avoid paying for use of the parking place.
Many efforts have been made in the past to counter the unauthorized use of parking places or unauthorized entry of vehicles to parking areas or parking buildings. In some areas, the problem of unauthorized parking has become so serious that vehicles parked without authorization have been towed away and impounded, often leading to damage of the vehicle and occasioning legal action. Morecommonly, efforts have been made to prevent vehicles entering individual parking places or car parks or parking buildings by placing a boom barrier or locking gate at the entry or exit of the parking areas and parking buildings. The boom or gate is often automatically activated by a magnetic card or manually activated by a parking supervisor. The entry and exit driveways or approaches of some parking areas and parking buildings are fitted with a low wall, a row of metal spikes or a similar obstacle which retracts into a recess in the driveway upon receiving an appropriate signal from a parking supervisor, magnetic card or the like. While these methods and devices for stopping unauthorized entry and exit to and from car parks and parking buildings are quite effective, they are usually not foolproof and they cannot be used to protect individual parking spaces within the parking building or car park. Furthermore if the device breaks down or malfunctions, potentially hundreds of people can be inconvenienced by being prevented from entering or leaving the car park or parking building.
Individual parking places are sometimes secured from unauthorized use by manually operated devices. These manually operated devices include a hinged metal hoop (or pair of hoops) secured to the ground by bolts drilled into the surface of the parking place. The hinge allows the hoop(s) to lie flat on the ground when not in use. In use, the driver raises the hoop(s) and physically secures the hoop(s) into place by means of a padlock or some other locking device. When raised and locked into place, the profile of the hoop or pair of hoops is sufficiently high and wide to prevent a vehicle from being driven around or over the hoop. Accordingly an unauthorized driver cannot drive into the empty parking place when the hoop or pair of hoops are raised and locked in place. An authorized driver, having parked his vehicle in the parking place may subsequently raise and lock the hoop in place to prevent unauthorized removal of the car as an additional way of protecting the car from theft. The principal disadvantage of such hoops is that they require manual operation and are thus most suited for use on parking places for long term parking; the hoops are extremely unsuitable for parking places which are used on a regular basis because the user must constantly get in and out of their vehicle to manually raise and lower the hoop. Consequently the metal hoops are particularly inconvenient for use by the elderly or disabled. Additionally, it is not always possible to temporarily stop a vehicle in a roadway or similar approach to the particular parking place while the driver gets out of the vehicle to lower the hoops to allow access to the parking space.
Another device and method of the prior art for securing a vehicle parking place involves the use of a pole or post which is attached to the ground by a hinge at the base. In use it is manually raised to a vertical position and locked into place and accordingly it suffers from the same disadvantages as the hoops described above. Furthermore the profile of the pole is so narrow that very small vehicles or motorcycles may be driven around it to occupy a vacant parking place, such as for example by driving between two adjacent posts protecting two adjacent parking places and parking the vehicle spanning two adjacent parking places.
In order to overcome the disadvantages of prior art devices for securing a vehicle parking place, efforts have been made to provide automated devices. For example, one such device marketed under the trade name SECURAPARK comprises an oval metal loop and flat crossbar attached by a hinge to the ground. An external power source provides power to raise and lower the oval metal loop. One of the disadvantages of this type of system is that both the raising and lowering of the metal loop requires power from the external power source and consequently frequent replacing or recharging of the battery is required or main power must be supplied to the unit necessitating electrical wiring.
A further disadvantage suffered by the SECURAPARK device and other devices of the prior art is that special skills are required for their installation and in general it is necessary to carry out external works on a site prior to their installation. For example, the SECURAPARK device and the hoops and poles described above must be physically secured to the parking place by way of bolts, hence in certain cases it may be necessary to cast a special concrete section to accept the bolts. Automated boom gates and the like require highly specialized skills for their installation and electrical wiring. Where specialists are required to install such devices, the overall cost of each unit is increased.
Therefore there is a need to provide a device and method of use of a device for preventing passage or movement of a vehicle, which device can be remotely operated from the car without having to leave the car, and which is readily installed by the person of average mechanical skills. More particularly there is a need to provide a device and method of use of a device for preventing unauthorized use of a vehicle parking place and optionally for preventing unauthorized removal of a vehicle once parked in a parking place.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide a device and method of use of a device to prevent the passage or movement of a vehicle into or out of an unauthorized area such as a parking place which at least alleviates one or more of the problems of existing devices.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a security device adapted to control movement of a vehicle to and from a designated parking area comprising:
a barrier capable of movement between a first position for preventing movement of a vehicle past a barrier and a second position for allowing movement of a vehicle past the barrier;
a controller for selectively controlling operation of the barrier between the first and second positions;
a driver for effecting movement of the barrier from the second position to the first position in response to a selective operation of a controller; and
an arming device for arming the driver to effect movement of the barrier from the second position to the first position in response to selective operation of the controller when the arming device is in the armed condition. The arming device is movable from a unarmed position to the armed position to arm the driver by movement of the vehicle over the security device.
A first operation first operation of the controller causes the driver to move the barrier from the second position to a first position substantially simultaneously with the arming device moving from the armed position to the unarmed position. Thus, the arming device is disarmed. A second operation of the controller allows the barrier to move from the first position to the second position while the arming device remains in the unarmed position. Movement of the vehicle over the security device when the arming device is in the unarmed position moves the barrier for future movement from the second position to the first position.
Typically, the security device is capable of adopting a number of conditions in use. They include:
a first condition where the barrier and the arming means are both in raised positions thereby preventing movement of the vehicle past the barrier,
a second condition where the barrier is lowered while the arming device is raised thereby allowing movement of the vehicle past the barrier; and
a third condition where the barrier and arming device are both lowered so that passage of the vehicle over the security device when in the second condition arms the arming device by lowering the arming device which thereby arms the driver in readiness for movement of the barrier to the raised position in response to the first operation of the controller. In that case, the arming device remains in the lowered position pending movement of the barrier to the raised position for movement to the first condition.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of preventing the passage of a vehicle by locating the device of the current invention in the pathway of a vehicle.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of preventing unauthorized entry to a parking place, parking area, parking building or the like by locating the device of the current invention at the entry or exit of the parking place, parking area, parking building or the like.
Typically, the arming means of the present invention is an arming pedal, lever, arm, plate or the like. More typically, the arming means of the device of the present invention comprises a biasing means which acts to raise the arming pedal. Typically, the biasing means is a spring or the like, such as a compression spring, torsion spring or the like. Typically, the arming means, moves between lowered and raised positions by rotation about an axle. More typically, the biasing means is either attached to the axle and acts to rotate the arming means about the axle, or is located on a separate axle such as a stub axle. Where the biasing means is a coil spring, the coils of the spring may be wound around the axle.
Typically, the arming means is moved from the raised position to the lowered position by the passage of a vehicle tire or similar over the arming means. Where the biasing means is a spring, the energy expended by the passage of the vehicle tire over the arming means compresses the biasing means to a tensioned position in which it is retained until it is released to raise the arming means. When the biasing moans in compressed in this way the arming means is said to be xe2x80x9carmedxe2x80x9d.
Typically, the spring, particularly the torsion spring, is the driver as well as the biasing means for the arming means. More typically, the spring causes the barrier to raise simultaneously with the arming means returning to its raised position in response to the first selective operation of the controller.
Typically, the arming means is of a shape that can be easily depressed when contacted by a rotating vehicletire, such as when the vehicle drives over the device of the present invention.
Typically, the arming means comprises a plate of about 75 millimeters when raised, and 400 to 800, preferably 750, millimeters in width. More typically, the arming means comprises a plate having a curved profile so that in the lowered positions the plate can be easily traversed by a vehicle tire without causing undue hindrance to the passage of the vehicle.
Typically, the barrier is a plate, shield, sign or the like barrier and is of suitable size and dimensions that a vehicle cannot drive over the barrier when it is raised because the barrier will contact the fender, axles, differential or other parts of the vehicle damaging them or opposing movement of the vehicle. Typically, the barrier comprises a plate of 350 to 450 millimeters in height when raised and 700 to 800 millimeters in width. More typically, the barrier comprises a plate having a curved profile in the upstanding or transverse direction so that in the lowered position it forms a hump which can be readily traversed by a vehicle tire. Even more typically, the barrier in the lower position adopts the same or a similar profile to the arming means when in the raised position.
Typically, the barrier moves between lowered and raised positions by rotation about an axle. Typically, the arming means is adjacent the barrier and a releasable connecting means or control means connects the arming means and the barrier such that they can rise in unison. Typically, the connecting means acts to connect the arming means and the barrier such that when the biasing means acts to raise the barrier by operation of the driver, the arming means is also raised. More typically, the barrier and the arming means are connected to the same axle or are connected to separate axles.
Typically, when the barrier and arming means are both in the raised position the barrier and/or arming means is held in this position by a locking means. The locking means prevents movement of the barrier from raised to lowered position.
Typically, when the barrier and arming means are both in the raised position, release of the connecting means and the locking means allows the barrier to move from the raised position to the lowered position. Typically, the barrier moves to the lowered position under the effect of gravity in a regulated manner. More typically, the rate of movement is regulated by friction, preferably associated with the barrier. Typically, when the barrier reaches the fully lowered position the barrier engages a releasable barrier retaining means or merely rests on the chassis of the device or on the substrate on which the device is located.
While the barrier moves from the raised to the lowered position, the arming means remains in the raised position under the influence of the biasing means.
When the arming means is returned to its lowered position by the passage of a vehicle tire, the connecting means is engaged or activated, reconnecting the barrier to the arming means.
The barrier and arming means are thus reconnected and as long as the barrier retaining means retains the barrier, the arming means is also retained and the biasing means kept under tension.
Accordingly release of the barrier retaining means releases the tension in the biasing means, and the biasing means acts to raise the arming means and the barrier.
Typically, the barrier retaining means comprises a lock, latch, spring biased pin or the like which is engaged when the barrier reaches the lowered position or when the arming pedal is depressed and which is released manually or remotely. Typically, the barrier retaining means is released automatically upon initiation by a signal from a remote control device, magnetic card or the like. More typically, the barrier retaining means is released automatically upon initiation of a solenoid switch by a remote control device. For example, when a driver wishes to stop unauthorized vehicles parking in a parking place, a button of a remote control device can be pressed to emit a signal which releases the barrier retaining means thus allowing the barrier and arming pedal to move to the raised position under the influence of the biasing means, thus preventing unauthorized use of the parking space.
Typically, the releasable connecting means for connecting the barrier and the arming pedal comprises a lock, latch, spring biased pin or the like which is immediately engaged when the arming means reaches the lowered position and which can be released automatically. Typically, the barrier retaining means is released automatically upon initiation by a signal from a remote control device, magnetic card or the like. More typically, the connecting means is released automatically upon initiation of a solenoid switch by a remote control device.
Typically, the locking means is also a latch, lock or spring biased pin or the like which engages the barrier means and/or arming means when they are in the raised position. Typically, the locking means is released automatically upon initiation by a signal from a remote control device, magnetic card or the like. More typically, the same initiation signal releases either or both of the connecting means and the locking means.
If a driver needs to drive into a parking place protected by the raised barrier and arming means, a button on a remote control device can be pressed, releasing the connecting means and locking means so that the barrier falls to the lowered position and engages the barrier retaining means. The driver can then drive over the arming means, the vehicle tire pushing the arming means into the lowered position and re-engaging the connecting means so that both the barrier and the arming means are retained in the lowered position.
Typically, the device of the current invention comprises a chassis or framework an which the arming means and barrier are mounted to form an assembly. Typically, the chassis comprises a frame and end plates which bear the axles for the barrier and arming pedal. Typically, the chassis will further comprise a covering means such as a coating or veneer of highly visible paint or similar or a rubbery composition which in attached over sharp edges and corners of the chassis. The rubbery composition not only gives the device a pleasing streamlined appearance but prevents vehicle tires being cut or damaged as they pass over the device of the current invention, and allows the barrier to retract fully without presenting a step or other hindrance to the progress of the vehicle.
Typically, the chassis is bolted, glued or otherwise attached to the ground or floor of the parking station etc.
More typically, the chassis is supported on foot plates which are bolted or glued to the ground or floor, providing a relatively easy mode of installation of the device of the current invention. Accordingly the foot plates may be retained in place on the ground by bolts, spikes or any other suitable retaining means known to the person skilled in the art.
Typically, the controller of the present invention includes a cam arrangement, preferably a cylindrical cam arrangement, preferably having two cam lobes. More typically, the first of the cam lobes controls movement of the barrier from the raised position to the lowered position whereas the second of the cam lobes controls movement of the barrier from the lowered position to the raised position along with controlling movement of the arming means from the lowered position to the raised position and releasing the driver means. Even more typically, the controller includes a pawl and ratchet arrangement in the form of a shoulder and T-bar for cooperatively engaging with one another.